Sochi’s whiny Western journalists need to travel more

Drinking glasses show yellow-colored water poured from a bathroom faucet at a Sochi hotel. Bad hotel accommodations are one of the top complaints. (Stacy St. Clair/Chicago Tribune/MCT)

Greek archaeologists, apparently, have unearthed new artifacts that prove that in the city of Olympia, Greece, during the first Olympic games in 776 BC, there was a shortage of 600-thread-count sheets, showers were tepid at best and the chariot-shuttle system would take toga-clad journalists to the wrong venues at times.

Which means, most likely, they had as many whiners back then as we have now for the Sochi games.

Yes, there have been problems in the operation and preparedness of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, that began this week. According to USA Today: “As journalists arrived in Sochi and began to chronicle their complaints about murky water, open manholes and questionable toilets, these issues quickly became a hashtag, and the hashtag became a snarky Twitter account.” I have no doubt there are a few who have likened their hardship to having landed on the beaches at Normandy on D-Day or to an episode of “Survivor” (not being a contestant on “Survivor,” just being forced to watch an episode).

Frankly, I think it tells us more about the attendees than it does about the event. There are four important lessons to come out of the early days of this Winter Olympiad:

1) That we have a really short memory. Type “olympic” and “problems” and the name of any host city into Google and be reminded. The Games in Athens frequently are referred to as a catalyst for Greece’s collapsed economy. The site of the Sydney Olympics also had been one of Australia’s worst toxic waste dumps. London gave us a severe shortage of security officers (and a potential strike by border guards) days before the games began, a situation referred to by one official as “a humiliating shambles.”

2) That we’re incredibly Western-centric. Hotel rooms damn well better have hot showers, three kinds of pillow, a coffee maker and lots of plugs for our electronic gear. That’s what we expect. But how many hotels set aside for the Olympics in Lake Placid — or Los Angeles or Atlanta or Calgary — had tea-makings, prayer mats and signs pointing the direction to Mecca? All these things that are standard for hotels in some parts of the world.

3) Journalists (and bored athletes) need something to do. In the age of 24-hour news, when you send thousands of reporters (a large portion of who don’t actually cover sports) to a massive sports event, they need something to write about. If there aren’t any good “human interest” stories and no athlete has been stripped of a medal yet, they’re going to talk about infrastructure. (Translation: They’re going to complain about the hotel room.) Already, there are several stories online about the catastrophic implications of fewer attendees trading Olympic pins. Yeah, sure.

4) Olympic attendees and journalists could learn a few things from travelers. Travelers tend to care more about what they can learn from the local culture than what they can get from from it. Travelers know there’s little point getting angry with the guy behind the counter (and that there are advantages of being the one nice person they meet all day). And, most importantly, travelers tend to adapt better: Manhole covers are missing? Watch where you step. The train was early? Find the bus (and make a friend in the process). The bathroom door is stuck? Destroy it — and remember it as a funny story instead of something you have to whine to world about. Hotel hasn’t been built yet? Stow your luggage and start meeting locals. Maybe someone will let you crash on the couch until the situation is resolved. The tap water is brown? Drink beer.

This isn’t supposed to be a giant convention junket. It’s the Olympic Games. It should be about the meeting (and competing) among scores of people from opposite ends of the Earth. It should be about something bigger. Some folks just need to get some context.